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Plans to ban items such as single-use plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene cups in England have moved one step further as ministers launch a public consultation on the issue.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said it was "time we left our throwaway culture behind once and for all".

About 1.1 billion single-use plates and 4.25 billion items of cutlery - mostly plastic - are used every year, but just 10% are recycled when they are thrown away.

The public consultation, where members of the public will get a chance to give their views, will last 12 weeks.

The government will also look at how to limit other polluting products such as wet wipes that contain plastic, tobacco filters and sachets.

Possible measures could see plastic banned in these items and there would have to be labelling on the packaging to help people dispose of them correctly.

In 2018, the government's microbead ban came into force in England and the following year a ban on plastic straws, drinks stirrers, and plastic cotton buds came in in England.

Mr Eustice said the government has "waged war on unnecessary, wasteful plastics" but environmental campaigners say the government is not acting quickly enough.

Plastic is a problem because it doesn't break down for many years, often ending up in landfill, as litter in the countryside or in the world's oceans.

Around the world, more than one million birds and over 100,000 sea mammals and turtles die every year from eating or getting tangled in plastic waste, according to government figures.